Derek Slap

Senator Slap Appointed Chair of Children’s Committee, Vice-Chair of Aging Committee

HARTFORD – State Senator Derek Slap (D-West Hartford) has been appointed Senate Chairman of the Children’s Committee, Senate Vice-Chairman of the Aging Committee, and a Senate member of the Human Services, Commerce, Transportation, and Higher Education & Employment Advancement committees.

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) confirmed the committee appointments today; Sen. Slap was sworn in to office on Friday, March 1, 2019 after winning a special election on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 to fill the seat vacated by former state Senator Beth Bye, who took a position in the Lamont administration.

“These committee assignments play to my strengths, which are protecting the health and safety of Connecticut’s youngest residents while supporting the needs of those who have spent their lives in this great state,” said Sen. Slap. “Of course I am also thrilled to have a voice and a vote on public policy in four other committees tasked with overseeing Connecticut’s human services, transportation, business and higher education needs. This is going to be a challenging – and I believe an ultimately rewarding – legislative session.”

Sen. Slap lives in West Hartford with his wife, Alex, his young daughters Maggie and Zoe, and his youngest child, Charlie. He is CEO of the Connecticut Technology Council, working to grow and support technology activity across the state.

Last year, as a member of the state House of Representatives, Sen. Slap introduced pay equity legislation, which became effective January 1; this landmark legislation eliminates pay history questions from job applications and helps ensure that women earn equal pay as their male counterparts for the same work.

This year, Sen. Slap is cracking down on the public health crisis of teen vaping by proposing an increase in the smoking age from 18 to 21, and by addressing the sale of flavored vaping liquids, which are especially popular with teens.

Sen. Slap is also committed to fighting age discrimination in the hiring process by seeking to prohibit employers from inquiring about birth or graduation dates on employment applications; the bill has more than two dozen co-sponsors and is supported by the Connecticut AARP.